Conference 2016

Our 17th Annual Conference was held on the Isle of Man from March 15th to March 17th 2016.

We held the annual conference in Douglas on the Isle of Man. The venue was the stunning Villa Marina , and the glorious sunshine allowed delegates to take in the beautiful sea views and enjoy many a stroll amidst the Villa’s elegant gardens and along Douglas’ charming 19th century promenade. Many thanks to Dr Tim Byrne and his excellent team of local organisers.

The conference featured an inspiring keynote address from Professor Anthony Bateman, co-developer of mentalization based therapy, who reflected on lessons learnt and future directions for advancing research and treatment for personality disorder. An equally stimulating talk was given by our second keynote speaker, Dr Kate Saunders, University of Oxford, who shared insights from her innovative work on mood tracking in borderline personality and bipolar disorders, including a fascinating interactive look at the link between conference mealtimes and delegates’ own mood ratings! The conference was opened by Dr Malcom Couch, C.E.O. of Health and Social Care on the Isle of Man, who gave a fascinating insight into healthcare challenges and service planning on the Island, with particular reference to mental health services. The 2016 Senior Practitioner award winner, Dr Winifred Bolton, was recognised for her powerful championing of high-level service user involvement in service delivery, and gave a moving address about the psychology of service user involvement in personality disorder services. The 2016 Senior Scientist Award winner was Dr Paul Moran, who was recognised for his outstanding contribution to advancing knowledge on the epidemiology and treatment of personality disorders. His Senior Scientist address presented some compelling and thought-provoking findings based on his extensive research work on the public health implications of personality disorder, leaving delegates feeling inspired to take action on this issue.

​This year we introduced for the first time a film programme, including a variety of short films from delegates, and a screening of “Ida’s Diary” in association with Emergence. This powerful film documentary uses real-time footage of a young Norwegian woman’s life as she struggles with many of the issues associated with the diagnosis of emotionally unstable (borderline) personality disorder, and we were privileged to be able to discuss the film with both director August Hanssen and Ida herself.